Solar Foods CEO says “now is the time to make it work” after netting €35M in funding for air-based protein

09 Apr 2021 --- Finnish food tech company Solar Foods is accelerating the production of alternative protein made from air and electricity, edging closer to bringing its pioneering climate-friendly Solein to the plate. This comes after receiving €10 million (US$11.9 million) in funding from The Finnish Climate Fund.

In an exclusive interview with FoodIngredientsFirst, CEO Dr. Pasi Vainikka talks about reaching €35 million (US$41.6 million) in total financing, the development of the company’s demonstration center.

He further details how Solein is now in the commercialization stage, with industrial-scale production of the alternative protein about to get underway.

The subordinated loan now granted will go toward starting commercial-scale production of Solein, which radically reduces the impact of food production on the climate.

Solar Foods CEO Dr. Pasi Vainikka

Scaling up Solein 
“The Finnish Climate Fund is an amazing new instrument by the Government filling a market gap, or failure, where technologies like ourselves need to physically build things,” Dr. Vainikka explains.  

“It’s there to help in scaling and infrastructure, investment for production and technologies. Therefore, it’s kind of essential to have it. Otherwise, things might not proceed as they are proceeding now,” he continues.

“There might be a little more funding here and there, but we have raised approximately €30 million now in the last seven months, so we have about €30 to €35 million in the investment program.”

“Now it’s up to us to make it, according to what we promised,” he declares. 

Crossing planetary boundaries of food production
Funding Solar Foods was the first investment by The Finnish Climate Fund and helps to keep the company on-track to “turn sci-fi into reality,” as the team produce nutritionally complete protein using carbon dioxide in the air and electricity as its primary raw materials. 

The loan will be used to build the demonstrator facility, including the Solein Experience Hub and a future-food bar. 

This provides an entirely new level of transparency in food production, notes Dr. Vainikka. This production facility, presently being designed, is scheduled to begin operations in early 2023.

“We are happy that we can soon put the Solein protein on the plates of consumers. Our first production facility will be located in Finland, and it will be the world’s first commercial facility to produce food by using carbon dioxide and electricity as its raw materials,” he continues.

Solar foods operates with the aim to disconnect food production from the accelerating consumption of natural resources.

“It is fascinating to be part of making this happen. We already have detailed plans for the production facility, but we will disclose more about them toward the end of the year when construction begins.”

The most responsible protein in the world? 
Solein is a complete protein with all the essential amino acids. It is both light in taste and appearance.

It vanishes into daily meals while at the same time maintaining its rich nutritional value and offering a unified solution that caters to virtually every imaginable meal of today and tomorrow.

The start of industrial production of climate-friendly protein is a significant step toward a more sustainable food production. As a protein source, Solein’s comparative greenhouse gas emissions are approximately 1 percent of meat protein and about 20 percent of plant protein production.

The sustainability impact of the Solein protein, however, reaches even further. Changing the way protein is produced will affect greenhouse gases and the changes in land use, soil impoverishment, biodiversity, and the status of water systems. 

Fixing the climate crisis with food 
Traditional food production is one of the most immense burdens on ecosystems globally, whereas deforestation caused by food production in developing countries, for example, worsens the climate crisis. 

The production process for Solein is disconnected from agriculture, climate and weather. It does not require irrigation systems, pesticides or fertilization any more than it requires animals. 

Eventually, Solar Foods’ technology could food to be produced even in extreme conditions in the future: in deserts, in the Arctic, and possibly even in space.Solein is now in the commercialization stage, with industrial-scale production of the alternative protein about to get underway.

“New technologies open windows into the wall behind which the future exists. We are suddenly seeing possibilities we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. The daily production of Solein is already a tangible reality. We at Solar Foods are ‘possibilists’ – we encourage and empower people to be part of the solution, to create a better world through better nutritional choices.”

“Our vision is to change the way food is produced. The world has hope. The food of the future is no longer a utopia, it is already being produced,” Dr. Vainikka says.

To date, Solar Foods has developed more than 20 food products using the Solein protein.

The Solein innovation is rooted in the combined research efforts of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and LUT University in Finland.

“In the EU, two years from today, when the demo starts operations, we expect to have regulatory approval. In some other markets, we can be present earlier because we already have one operating facility, which is our pilot facility, and the demo facility will be a copy of that,” he concludes. 

By Gaynor Selby